Could the Drafting of QB Brandon Weeden End with Browns Trading Colt McCoy?

Last night, as the first round of the NFL Draft came to a close, I speculated that clearly Colt McCoy's job security as starting quarterback is in jeopardy, with the Cleveland Browns taking Brandon Weeden as the 22nd overall pick.

Since that time, details have emerged, some murky, some less so, that have painted a far more interesting picture of McCoy's future in Cleveland and in the NFL as a whole.

Though it appears that the Browns' initial target at 22 was Baylor wide receiver Kendall Wright, who went at No. 20 to the Tennessee Titans, apparently upsetting Cleveland, they decided to pull the trigger on Weeden rather than go after a different receiver.

General manager Tom Heckert said at the post-round press conference that he was worried another team would have designs on Weeden before the Browns picked again in the early second round, necessitating that they draft him in Round 1.

Heckert also made a statement that was anything but innocent at the time: the Browns may just consider trading McCoy, as early as this weekend. He said it wasn't anything that he, team president Mike Holmgren and head coach Pat Shurmur had already discussed, but that it was a subject worth visiting over the final two days of the draft.

Already potential suitors for McCoy have been reported, most notably the Green Bay Packers, at least according to this report in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer which cites NFL.com's Jason LaCanfora as the source. The Packers, linked to draft prospect Russell Wilson in Round 4, need a backup quarterback for Aaron Rodgers after losing Matt Flynn (willingly) in free agency.

In exchange, the Browns could likely get a fifth-round pick, adding back the one they gave up in trade to the Minnesota Vikings to move up one spot to guarantee them running back Trent Richardson.

Rarely does a team take a quarterback in the first round without planning on him starting in his rookie year, and for a first-year player like Weeden, who is 28 now and will turn 29 in the early part of the 2012 season, it's even more imperative to get him on the field, even if he does have seven or eight years' worth of playing time left.

There's also this interesting report, via Daniel Wolf at the National Football Authority, that seems to intimate that McCoy wouldn't be all that upset were he traded elsewhere.

According to Wolf's source, McCoy hasn't been pleased with the Browns since free agency, when they tried to go all-in to acquire quarterback Robert Griffin III and then assuring the fans, when that fell through, that McCoy was their man, period. He also was reportedly not happy that the Browns weren't more aggressive in finding offensive talent during free agency.

Further stoking the fire of McCoy's dissatisfaction is Adam Schefter's claim that the Browns assured McCoy that they wouldn't be drafting a quarterback in the first round.

Granted, Wright was their target all along, and it can be assumed that meant Weeden was their intended selection at No. 37 in the second round, and with the inability to get Wright they just bumped Weeden up. But for a quarterback-team relationship that may have already been strained, this isn't a positive development.

All of this talk seems to point to one thing: there will be no quarterback competition in Cleveland. Weeden is likely to be the Browns' starter, and it's looking as though that was the front office's plan this whole time. McCoy will be a backup this year, but it probably won't be in Cleveland, and Holmgren can have his prized possession, Seneca Wallace, on the bench as the No. 2 for yet another season.

It's just a matter of when the Browns can trade McCoy and to whom. They'd like to get it done before Saturday, so the pick received in trade can be used in this year's draft.

Of course, there's no telling how the first year with Weeden under center will play out—especially with six rounds of the draft to go, and the Browns still with two major needs on offense left to fill—so perhaps an extra fifth-rounder next year may be welcomed.

We all knew that the Browns' five-year rebuild was very much still ongoing, but we all assumed that McCoy was the centerpiece of the team's plans. Now, with Weeden on the roster, it looks like McCoy was the backup plan and Weeden was their intention since the Griffin trade fell through.

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